12 January 2012

Sir Thomas Beecham live in Helsinki (Sibelius Festival 1954)

Partially published on a Ondine CD (Tapiola & Symphony no7),
here - from a radio broadcast source - the complete concert conducted by Beecham in Helsinki - Sibelius Festival june 17, 1954.

As a "Bonus" - to fill the second CD - again two Sibelius 7 by Sir Thomas: the New York 1942 and above all the 1955 version, one of the best recordings ever made of this work (with Mravinsky and Barbirolli, of course) and Finlandia (LPO, 1938). NYPO Seventh and Finlandia are not taken from Dutton & Naxos CDs but from 78rpm.

Guido thank you so much for posting this. I have always found the Sibelius 7th very elusive, but after listening to the 3 Beechams 3x each (yes really!), I begin to think I know the symphony a lot better! The RPO recording is stunning of course, but after listening to the other 2 repeatedly I am still not sure if they are weaker only because the sound/balance isn't as good!?! The Helsinki one, nearly contemporary, is pretty much the same interpretation I think, but the HYPO one seems extrovert where the later ones are inward-looking, and less extrovert where the others are open. Or maybe I've just heard the symphony too many times in a row!! Thanks for the opportunity.

David, You are completely right!I tried many times to approach the 7th listening to the studio recordings by Ashkenazy, Maazel, Davis, Rattle, and many others, but only with those of Beecham is possible to "understand something" of this soooo elusive (perfect word!) score. Thanks a lot for the very appropriate comment!